Kuapay mobile wallet lets retailers scan for payment

Retailers considering which smartphone-based mobile wallets to accept have another option with the debut of Kuapay LLC’s mobile app.

The app, available for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices, enables consumers to pay for merchandise inside stores using their smartphones at retailers that accept Kuapay.

It works like this: A consumer opens the app, types in her numeric passcode and the app generates a Quick Response code, a form of a two-dimensional bar code. The retailer scans the code using the Kuapay POS merchant app, also available from the app stores, to generate a bill that appears on the consumer’s smartphone screen. At the bill screen, the consumer can add a tip and choose which payment card to use, then touches a button to complete the transaction. Receipts are stored in the Kuapay mobile wallet.

Consumers also can add their loyalty account numbers to Kuapay by tapping the Add button in the app. From there, they can search hundreds of rewards programs and enter their account number to add the loyalty program to their Kuapay profile. The app generates a bar code for retailers to scan.

Retailers pay 2.0% plus 23 cents per transaction to accept a Kuapay transaction, a spokesman says. Kuapay has no monthly statement or set-up fees. Kuapay nets five cents from each transaction, he says. Retailers can view transactions and sort them by customer name, amount and date.

Currently, Kuapay is available at several merchants in Los Angeles, and in South America and Spain. At the Stop’n Café in Santa Monica, CA, owner Andrew Yermian recently began accept Kuapay, and lets customers know with a sticker on the front door. Yermian uses an iPod Touch and the Kuapay checkout app to accept payments. “The benefit is that there is another more convenient way for our customers to complete their transactions,” Yermian says. Stop’n Café receives between five to eight Kuapay transactions a week, he says.

Kuapay is one of several mobile wallet apps, including those from Square Inc., Google Inc., Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc.